Raffinose is one of raffinose family oligosaccharides, in which galactose is connected to glucosyl group of sucrose via α-1,6 linkage. The raffinose family oligosaccharides include, for example, stachyose containing two connected galactose residues, and verbascose containing three connected galactose residues, in addition to raffinose. These oligosaccharides are widely distributed in plants, for example, seeds of various plants such as beans, rapeseed, and cottonseed containing these oligosaccharides as reserve carbohydrates; plants belonging to Cucurbitaceae such as cucumber and melon containing these sugars as translocation sugars; and sugar beet (Beta vulgaris) and rosette leaves having acquired cold resistance.
The raffinose family oligosaccharides are biosynthesized as follows.
 UDP-galactose+myo-inositol−galactinol+UDP  (a)galactinol+sucrose−raffinose+myo-inositol  (b)galactinol+raffinose−stachyose+myo-inositol  (c)
The reactions are catalyzed by (a) galactinol synthase (GS: EC 2.4.1.123), (b) raffinose synthase (RS: EC 2.4.1.82), and (c) stachyose synthase (STS: EC 2.4.1.67), respectively.
At present, raffinose is extracted from sugar beet, and it is separated and purified in the sucrose purification process. However, since crystal formation of sucrose is deteriorated by raffinose, sugar beet has been subjected to breeding and improvement with the aim of decreasing the raffinose content. As a result, the raffinose content in sugar beet now has a low value of 0.03% to 0.16% (Enzyme Microb. Technol., Vol. 4, May, 130-135 (1982)). Therefore, it is not easy to efficiently obtain raffinose from sugar beet having such a low raffinose content.
As described above, raffinose is contained in mature seeds of Leguminosae plants represented by soybean and in sugar beet and Cucurbitaceae plants such as cucumber. Mature seed of soybean contains, as soybean oligosaccharides, sucrose (content: about 5%), stachyose (content: about 4%), and raffinose (content: about 1%). The soybean oligosaccharides are recovered in a fraction obtained by deproteinizing defatted soybean, and they are utilized, for example, for functional food products after concentration. However, raffinose occupies a proportion of 10% of the whole oligosaccharides, and hence raffinose exists in a small amount.
On the other hand, a method for enzymatically synthesizing raffinose has been reported (Trends in Glycoscience and Glycotechnology, 7.34, 149-158 (1995)). This method comprises the steps of synthesizing galactobiose in accordance with a condensation reaction catalyzed by α-galactosidase, and transferring galactosyl group to sucrose by using the galactobiose as a galactosyl group donor in accordance with a galactosyl transfer reaction to synthesize raffinose. However, in this reaction, 350 g of galactobiose is synthesized from 1.9 kg of lactose hydrolysate, and 100 g of raffinose is obtained from 190 g of galactobiose and 760 g of sucrose. Therefore, the yield of produced raffinose is low, and hence this synthesis method is not efficient.
Besides the foregoing methods, a method is also conceivable in which a plant having a high raffinose content may be bred by means of transformation for genes for enzymes involved in the biosynthesis system. For example, Kerr et al. have cloned a gene for galactinol synthase, and transformed rapeseed therewith (WO 93/02196). As a result, the GS activity was increased, however, the content of the raffinose family oligosaccharides was unwillingly decreased. It was impossible to achieve the object to enhance the biosynthesis of the raffinose family oligosaccharides by introducing the galactinol synthase gene. Therefore, there has not been provided a method for increasing the content of the raffinose family oligosaccharides in plant.
On the other hand, it is also demanded to decrease the raffinose family oligosaccharides. As described above, the raffinose family oligosaccharides are widely distributed over plants including, seeds of various plants such as beans, for example, soybean, rapeseed, and cottonseed containing these oligosaccharides as storage carbohydrates; Cucurbitaceae plants such as cucumber and melon containing these oligosaccharides as translocation sugars; and sugar beet and rosette leaves having acquired cold resistance. Meals obtained after extraction of oil, for example, from soybean, rapeseed, and cotton contain the raffinose family id oligosaccharides. Almost all of the meals are utilized as feed. However, human and animals, which do not have α-galactosidase, cannot directly digest the raffinose family oligosaccharides. It is known that the raffinose family oligosaccharides lower the metabolic energy efficiency of feed due to, for example, assimilation of the raffinose family oligosaccharides by enteric bacteria to cause gas production. It has been reported that removal of raffinose family oligosaccharides from soybean meal results in a large increase in the metabolizable energy for broiler chickens (Coon, “Proceeding Soybean Utilization Alternatives”, University of Minnesota, 203-211 (1989)). In view of the foregoing facts, it is desired to develop the plants such as soybean, rapeseed, and cottonseed in which the raffinose family oligosaccharides are decreased.
Such plants have been subjected to breeding to increase the amount of oil. Photosynthetic products are distributed among oils, proteins, and carbohydrates including the raffinose family oligosaccharides. It has been reported for soybean that a reverse correlation exists between the amount of oils and the amount of carbohydrates. It is expected that the content of oils can be increased in a soybean plant having the same photosynthetic ability as those possessed by others, by decreasing the production of the raffinose family oligosaccharides.
Based on a viewpoint as described above, Kerr et al. have reported development of soybean varieties with a low content of the raffinose family oligosaccharides, by means of breeding based on mating and selection, in which the raffinose family oligosaccharides are lowered by an amount of 80% to 90% (WO 93/00742). However, this technique concerns creation of soybean variety, which cannot be applied to other various soybean varieties developed in response to, for example, aptitude for cultivation and resistance to disease. This technique cannot be universally applied to various plants as well.
It is known that raffinose, which is contained, for example, in sugar beet and sugar cane, lowers crystal formation of sugar or sucrose. Therefore, it is possible to expect that if no raffinose is produced, the production efficiency of sugar may be improved in such a plant. However, no sugar beet has been created, which contains no raffinose.
As described above, the raffinose synthase, which has been hitherto purified, has been confirmed only as an enzyme activity, and no entity of the enzyme has been identified. The confirmed activity is low, and it has been desired to obtain a raffinose synthase having a high activity. The conventional method for producing raffinose provides a low yield, and hence it has been desired to develop an efficient method for producing raffinose. On the other hand, it is also desired to breed a plant in which the raffinose family oligosaccharides are decreased.